


riverside

by Zimtlein



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda (Video Game 1986), Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Genre: F/M, Headcanon, Minor Character Death, PTSD (kind of)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-10-07 19:57:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17372321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zimtlein/pseuds/Zimtlein
Summary: Five times Zelda and Link meet at the Hylian River.One time they make the choice to be free.





	riverside

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, this is a fic for the first two TLoZ titles and I am as surprised as you, but I somehow really took a liking to those games. I wish there were more fics exploring them than the handful on ao3. Anyway, very much headcanon-y because I can't help myself and wondered why Zoras would attack Link in TLoZ 1. Hope you like it!

She had been bestowed with wisdom. Or so they said. She been bestowed with the power of the goddess, had been named after a woman who had faced a tragedy she couldn’t even fathom. This she knew. She had been taught in many arts, most of all the art of changing minds with the right words and right gestures.

Despite all, the sight of a seemingly unremarkable young man talking to a Zora right next to the Hylian River made her stop in her tracks.

Her body was faster than her mind. She took a step. One of her knights followed her gaze. “Princess, it wouldn’t be wise –”

“Stay here,” she ordered. Her voice shook a little. She wasn’t used to the sternness accompanying her words. “I just want to talk.”

“There’s a Zora, your highness,” another knight hissed.

She didn’t even turn around to look at him. “And it seems as though this Zora is perfectly content with talking to a human. So would you kindly listen to my orders?”

That made them listen for good. She gathered up her dress as she approached the odd pair. Her steps sounded too loud in her own ears when her boots met the dry ground. When both the man and the Zora looked in her direction, she stopped. Seconds went by. Her heart doubled up in speed. The day was warm enough to make her sweat through her layers of clothes. Then, like an animal sensing danger, the Zora hissed and disappeared into the river.

She took a breath and let go of her dress. The fabric dragged over the ground as she started walking towards the water. She didn’t know what she had expected, really. For things to be different. For things to be easier. The disappointment in herself was worse than the look the stranger shot her. It didn’t take long for him to come a bit closer, just close enough so his words weren’t lost in the light breeze.

“They don’t like Hylians.”

“It seems so,” she mumbled, still not looking at him.

“It took me some time to make him talk to me. He might hate me now, too.”

She finally turned her head. A young man, indeed. Not much older than herself. His ears were pointy. A Hylian, then. That was even stranger. Other than the king and the princess of the Zoras, not a single Zora had ever directed as much as a word towards her. And yet they would talk to a man like him. With a green cap and a green tunic and eyes that spoke of kindness.

She didn’t know if she could trust him.

“So,” she said. “How did you do it?”

He blinked at her. If he recognized her, he didn’t show it. A ghost of a smile lingered on his lips. “How did I do what?”

“Make a Zora talk to you.”

“Well. I was polite.”

She almost choked on the sudden laugh bubbling in her throat. She held it back. Instead, she stared at him. “You are making fun of me.”

“I’m not.” He shrugged. “Still, a bit unfair they’d hate us just for being Hylians. Don’t you think?”

Of course she thought so. She had thought so since her father told her about old stories, about the prosperity Hylians and Zoras used to share. It was her intention to lead her kingdom to its old glory again. Or rather, it was her duty. Her reason for being in this place, in this moment.

“It is,” she answered.

Evening came closer. It would be only moments until the stranger would turn around and go his way. She felt it in her fingertips, she felt the questions on her lips, and she let go of the words before she could hold them back.

“Who are you? A traveler?”

“Yeah.” He seemed to think for a while. Something in his eyes made her uneasy. “Something like that.”

“A traveler who talks to Zoras. How strange.”

He smiled. “You seem to be a strange one, too.”

She furrowed her brows. Did he know who he was talking to? In such a tone? The whole kingdom knew her face, after all. “You are not from Hyrule, I reckon.”

“You are not wrong,” he said. “Is it because of the way I talk?”

“It is because of the way you talk to Hyrule’s princess.”

It took a while. His mouth slowly formed a silent O before his eyes grew wide. “I apologize,” he mumbled, taking a step away from her and lowering his gaze. “I have yet to learn Hyrule’s customs, your highness.”

She regretted telling him about herself for a long, stretching moment. Authority was powerful, but she wasn’t sure if power was suited for her. Yet she was the future queen. And as such, she gestured for him to look into her eyes again. “Avoiding Zoras as to avoid their hatred against us seems to be a rule you won’t like to obey, then.”

He hesitated. Still, something she couldn’t quite name shimmered in his eyes. The same something that made her suspicious in the first place. Curious, even. Inexplicably curious. A traveler unafraid to talk to beings which could very well turn on him any moment. No knight would have been as brave as him.

“And yet you haven’t come here to punish me for talking to a Zora, but to talk to one yourself.”

Half a smile appeared on her lips. “You are not wrong,” she echoed his words. “Now, stranger. What is your name?”

He hesitated again. She couldn’t place why. Eventually he bowed his head. “My name is Link, your highness.”

“Well, Link. I would hope that after my current journey, both of us will be able to enjoy a conversation with any Zora we happen to meet.”

“A diplomatic journey, then,” he concluded.

“Yes.” She looked over to the water reflecting an early evening’s sun. “You could call it that.”

“May I accompany you? Just for a while, that is.”

She turned back to look at him. Kindness, of course. It was kindness she recognized in his eyes. A kindness she knew too well. One she had to make use of too, to make harsh words sound smoother and to make frowns disappear from monarchs’ faces. She didn’t believe the innocence in his words.

“You certainly know that this is a strange request,” she therefore said.

“I don’t know the Kingdom of Hyrule all too well.” Half a smile appeared on his lips. He was handsome, no doubt. She knew how much power such a smile could have over people. “Accompanying a princess and learning from her about this land – it’s a great opportunity.”

She narrowed her eyes. “What a brave request.”

He simply smiled. Her thoughts raced, searching for a reason he’d suggest something that outrageous. Was this a perfectly normal occurrence in the land he came from? He didn’t carry a sword with him, didn’t even seem like a fighter of any kind. Merely a traveler. She swallowed her thoughts.

“You may accompany us,” she eventually said, “until we reach Death Mountain. Then you will go your own way.”

There was no need for an answer, but when Link bowed his head again, she felt her heart thump stronger than before. “I thank you from the bottom of my heart, princess.”

She raised her eyebrows and turned around to the assemblage of trees in the distance. Her knights had raised their bows, pointing the arrows directly at Link. When he noticed this, Link let out a questioning grunt. She looked at him. Her smile felt belittling even on her own lips.

“We value the royal family’s lives,” she explained.

“Apparently.” It sounded like a laugh. The smile vanished from her lips. She raised her hand to her knights until they slowly sunk their weapons. Then she turned to Link again.

“Yet you are nothing but a stranger to us. A stranger who was willing to talk to people who turned against us. Don’t forget that.”

He didn’t answer. The curiosity in his eyes made her uneasy. She approached her knights.

 

“The Gorons left Hyrule decades ago,” she explained, her breath only coming out in huffs. She wasn’t used to climbing rocks, to the unbearable heat. They’d had to stop and take a break far too often in the shadows of particularly large rocks, but she’d have collapsed in the heat otherwise. Next to her, the Hylian River winded its way through rocks and dry ground, green sprouting wherever the water was able to spread life. “Nobody knows exactly why. It happened before I was born. The Zoras stayed, but the connection they once shared with the kingdom is broken. There was a tribe named Gerudos, but they also vanished without a trace.”

“I know some Gorons,” Link said. Her three knights had hesitated at first to eat what Link was offering them, but he proved to be a better cook than anyone could have anticipated. He had collected herbs on their journey, had dove into the Hylian River to catch basses with nothing but his bare hands, had plucked ripe apples from trees. All her knights had known were bread and cheese, given from people they met on their way. Now the knights gobbled up the roasted basses as if their lives depended on it.

“Heard of them,” one of the knights said. “Can’t cook, can’t fight. Good-for-nothings, essentially.”

“They can fight,” Link replied. “They call it wrestling. It’s about body strength. Whoever manages to stay in the ring wins.”

“That sounds hilarious,” another knight chortled. “Did you win?”

All three of the knights chuckled. She watched Link’s ever so calm expression while she nibbled at her own bass. The herbs tasted a bit foreign, but she liked it.

“You should try to show them,” she eventually said, her eyes locking with Link’s. “How Gorons fight.”

They stared at each other for a moment. It wasn’t hard to guess what he was thinking. His eyes told the whole story. A somehow wary smile appeared on his lips before he stood up, wiping dust off his trousers. “I’d be glad to,” he said, rather to her than the three knights.

They started laughing, one by one. Eventually, the eldest of them rolled his shoulders and stood up, too. “Let’s see what you are capable of, boy.”

He showed them. The stances Gorons used, the way they distributed their weight to knock the enemy off balance. Link wasn’t well trained. She even doubted that he could wield a sword. But when he – as he had called it – wrestled with the knight in earnest, it didn’t seem too hard for him to win. The knight landed on his behind. The other two men stared at Link in disbelief. A moment of silence washed over them.

She caught the look he shot her. She didn’t know if he was looking for approval. Still, the smile she sent him was more honest than she had expected.

After the other two knights couldn’t win either, they started pestering Link, wanting him to fight against them with a sword. At that, she raised her voice. “If you think that winning against someone who cannot properly wield a sword will restore your honor, you are truly cowards.”

All three men looked at her in shame. Yet it was Link who objected. “I carry no sword with me, but it doesn’t mean that I cannot wield one.”

She raised her eyebrows. Being objected to felt like a slap to her face. Nobody dared to do so, usually. “A knight without a sword, then. How interesting.”

“I am not a knight, princess. I am a traveler. But as you know, traveling a foreign land comes with certain dangers.”

She didn’t know. With a snort, she leaned back into the shadows.

Link hadn’t lied. He knew how to wield a sword, even if it was a dull one the knights didn’t like to use anymore. It was almost scary to watch him. He was left-handed, an advantage over the knights who were used to train with right-handed men. They couldn’t anticipate the moves accurately. Link couldn’t parry every attack, but it was good enough. The way he moved spoke of talent. She watched him, even as they stopped their training. The knights looked at him with newfound respect. There was a humbleness to his words and gestures that almost made her angry.

“For a random traveler,” she said, “you seem quite skilled.”

He shrugged and smiled at her. Now she _was_ angry. Nothing about him seemed smug, and she kind of envied him and kind of hated him for that alone.

When the sun had almost set, they resumed their path. Death Mountain was near. She wasn’t as glad as she thought she would be.

 

The Hylian River almost divided Hyrule in two, starting at the northern spring and making its way down to the woods, granting a dozen of towns a fundament to build on. The castle and its small city were also situated close to it. Most of the Zoras had left the river to live in the eastern waters, though. Their king had been clever enough to move his realm’s center just barely outside of Hyrule’s border. Consequently, the Zoras didn’t need to listen to Hyrule’s orders anymore. Her carefully prepared words, her reasoning, the understanding and calm tone she had been taught since childhood hadn’t helped.

In short, her plans had failed.

Nobody had blamed her. Nobody would dare to. Nobody followed her when she escaped to the Hylian River evening after evening, watching water flow south. The back of her hand tingled. She had been bestowed with wisdom, after all. With the ability to _know_ , intuitively.

Yet she was surprised to see a familiar green tunic in the distance.

It took some time until Link reached her. Before he could bow his head to greet her, she sighed and gestured for him to stop.

“Call me Zelda,” she said.

He didn’t answer right away. Instead she sat down next to the rock she had chosen as her seat. In this way, she could look down to him.

“Zelda,” he eventually said. He spoke her name as if it felt foreign on his tongue. It made her shiver. “I haven’t seen Zoras for a while now.”

“Go to the east. You will find them there.”

He didn’t comment on the bitterness in her voice. Something about his features was frightening. She wondered for how long he had wandered through different kingdoms, how far away they had been. His hair was a sandy blonde. A Hylian in a faraway land. She wondered about his story. She wondered about the fact that she wondered about him.

“Maybe I could convince them to come back,” he answered.

Zelda snorted. “After even the princess wasn’t able to convince them? A marvelous idea, I must say.”

“Have you ever talked to a Zora outside of the royal family, princess?”

She stared him down. Her jaw clenched. Nobody blamed her, because nobody dared to. Because the goddesses had chosen her to be the wielder of wisdom. But there were things even she couldn’t fix. She knew this. Link didn’t.

“I couldn’t. Because no Zora was willing to talk to me.”

“I don’t know much of your history outside of what you’ve been telling me, to be frank. But I know that people get angry for a reason.”

Her dress was pink. She hated it. She hated how it made her skin seem even lighter than it already was. She hated what people thought of her. She hated the way Link’s eyes inspected the river. Maybe he didn’t mean to provoke her. Maybe he did. She fought the urge to stand up and go away, far away. Instead she scratched the back of her hand, wrapped in white silk.

“When I was a child,” she whispered, somehow angrily and somehow nonchalantly, wanting to make him understand and wanting to drive him away, “the Zora king’s son died. He was rebellious and stubborn, saying that it made no sense for Hylians to rule over them. Saying that we were not superior to anyone. Telling his father that it was time to become independent. Then, on a particularly stormy day, he was struck by lightning near Death Mountain. That couldn’t have been a coincidence, the Zoras said. It had to be a result of magic. Magic which only Hylians are capable of.”

Link didn’t react at first. His clothes were a bit dirty. There was a scar on his cheek. She wondered if it would feel rough under her fingertips. He still didn’t carry weapons, though. Not even a bow.

“Grant them independence,” he said.

She laughed dumbfoundedly. “You mean, split the Kingdom of Hyrule?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know much about politics. It was only a suggestion.”

“It’s brave of you to even suggest such an outraging course of action.”

He suddenly smiled at her, an honest smile, capturing, almost blindingly bright, and she felt her heart stop for a moment. A smile he had gifted her numerous times before. He was seeing through her without any effort at all. It made her chest clench painfully.

“I guess I am a brave man, then.”

“Courageous, even.” She laughed again. She wasn’t sure if the emotion she felt was amusement. “A courageous traveler named Link. Say, just who are you?”

“Maybe I was led here for a reason. Who knows?”

She didn’t feel like laughing anymore.

 

Her knights had fallen, one by one. Her father lay on the floor, a pool of blood having formed under his unmoving body. Her heart didn’t stop pounding. She felt it in her ears, every single beat. The sourness climbing up her throat was hard to fight against. She had never wielded a sword. Once or twice, but never with the intention of defending herself against someone. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t. Her hand hurt, a pulsing pain tickling in her fingertips. She took a step back. Another one. Then she started to run.

It was silent. She knew the castle inside out, and yet there was no sound other than her steps, too loud in her ears. Maybe, if she got outside – but even then. This being, this _thing_ that made her head spin and her throat clog, wasn’t so easily escapable.

And she knew what it wanted.

There was a whimper. She wasn’t ready. Her hand shook. There was a whimper, but as she stood, trying to think about what to do, where to run, she recognized who it was coming from. It was Impa, the sounds coming from her lips just Zelda’s name, sounding almost puzzled. Zelda stepped closer. She wanted to cry, but it was not the time to do so. Not now.

“Impa,” she breathed. “You are alive.”

“By the goddesses.” Impa came closer, hesitantly at first, then slung her arms around Zelda’s shoulders and pulled her close. “Princess. You are … Were you harmed?”

“No. No, I wasn’t.” She wanted to stay in her nursemaid’s embrace forever, wanted to escape the harsh reality. But she couldn’t. Instead, she softly pushed Impa back and looked into her eyes. “Look. This thing. It’s – it’s after this.”

Impa understood. The mark of the Triforce on Zelda’s hand, she had always understood. It had been a blessing most of her life. A special gift no one else shared with her. Now it was the reason the kingdom was going to fall. She let her hand sink again, wrapped her left hand over her right one, tried to ignore the throbbing pain.

“So I’m going to hide it,” she said.

Impa looked at her with widened eyes. “Princess, there is no way –”

“There is. I can split it into pieces so _it_ can never find them.”

Slowly Impa shook her head. “And then?”

“And then …” And then. She didn’t know. She just didn’t know. Goddesses, she didn’t know. “And then I hope that the goddesses will listen to our prayers.”

Impa’s lips quivered ever so slightly. It was almost enough for Zelda to finally burst into tears. “And they will,” Impa whispered.

Together they fled the castle, the sword in Zelda’s hand entirely useless. At least this way, she could pretend to not be as helpless as she felt. The sky was dark, rain trickled down her hair. She stopped at the Hylian River, watching raindrops form small waves on the surface. It was silent. So unnervingly silent.

The goddess had bestowed her with wisdom, with intuition she had always been able to trust. With a kind of power she was about to leave behind for good. Like a last sign, she knew. She simply knew.

“Impa,” she whispered. “I want you to do something for me.”

Her nursemaid grasped her arm. “Anything, princess.”

“Find someone. Find someone who can save us.” She didn’t know who was listening, didn’t know who was watching, and she stopped herself before the name could escape her lips. Yet she felt it. Goosebumps on her skin, her blood rushing in her ears, her knees trembling – it was near. It was coming closer. “Someone courageous. Find him.”

“I don’t quite understand –”

“Impa. Please. Go.”

The urgency in her voice was enough. Impa pressed her lips into a thin line and nodded. Tears glistened in her eyes. It took seconds over seconds until she finally turned around and ran.

Zelda took a deep breath and clasped her hands.

She felt it with every ounce of her being. She felt it being ripped out of her while she chanted her prayers, while she concentrated on the magic flowing through her veins. She felt the pain in her hand, in her arm, in her heart. Breathing became difficult. She felt power leaving her. It felt like death. She tried not to cry and felt rain trickling down her cheeks.

Eight pieces. She knew it, she could feel it. Like being ripped into eight even pieces, slowly and mercilessly. Hardly anything was left behind. She fell to her knees. Her hand had stopped hurting. She felt empty. Entirely empty.

When it reached her, its presence alone almost choking her, she was less frightened than she thought she would be.

 

There was no possibility to regain the Triforce of Wisdom as hers. It had been ripped out of her – by her own will. It was all right. She missed the feeling, this little tiny voice inside her whispering about truths and lies, but it was all right. She felt better. Day by day. Someday, it would be all right.

She could still remember the cold walls. The hunger, this real and ugly hunger, clawing at her stomach until she wanted to cry from the pain alone. The anger _it_ had felt. It had had no qualms showing her what it was capable of.

Her hands shook.

The Hylian River was as calm as ever. Most of the people were gone or dead. Those who had survived were rebuilding their homes. She envied them. She couldn’t rebuild what she had lost. Her castle, her father, her kingdom.

“Still no Zoras,” a familiar voice called. “What a shame.”

She didn’t even look up. The evening was cold, and she winced when a cloak was put over her shoulders. Link’s hand rested on her back until she relaxed again. She didn’t know if she was particularly thankful. She didn’t know if she should be. Link had rescued her, but she wasn’t sure how much there had been left to rescue anyway.

“They kind of hunted me down. Zoras, I mean, during my journey. But I try not to hold a grudge.”

She couldn’t stop herself from looking up after all. He didn’t seem the same. Not quite. She hadn’t seen the harshness on his face before. Another scar had joined the one on his cheek. The moment he rescued her, she had fallen into his arms, crying shamelessly. So she didn’t need to hold back anymore. Her finger graced his scars. They were smooth, surprisingly. His skin turned a bit pink, but he didn’t look at her. Quickly, she pulled her hand back again.

“Hunted you down?” she repeated.

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “They found Ganon to be not that bad of a monster, it seems. Maybe they were just misjudging the situation.”

“They got what they wanted,” she mumbled. He shot her a questioning look. She couldn’t bring herself to smile. “Hyrule is broken. They’ve got their own land to rule. Nobody really cares.”

“You are still Hyrule’s queen.”

“I’d rather not be.”

Link laughed, a doubtful laugh, confusion coloring his features. “You don’t?”

She hesitated to explain. It was hard to put into words. “The goddess chose me,” she tried. “The goddess also chose to take the Triforce of Wisdom away from me. I have no right to wield such a power, it seems. I have no right to be a queen, do I?”

For a moment, she hoped for denial. For a moment, she hoped he would rescue her yet again. Then she realized the stupidity behind her thoughts, and she laughed in a moment of embarrassment.

“I am sorry. You shouldn’t need to hear this.”

“I don’t think the goddesses have such great power over our lives. Not as much as you think.”

Not the kind of answer she had hoped for. Or even expected. She pressed the cloak closer to her body. It smelled a bit foreign. She realized that it was Link’s smell. She wasn’t sure if she liked it. She wasn’t sure if she liked him. She only knew that the way his blue eyes watched her was unnerving, A bit exhilarating. She lowered her gaze.

“It was you who chose to protect the Triforce from Ganon. It was you who told Impa to seek me out. Me of all people. Right?”

He didn’t need an answer, so she remained silent.

“You can still choose. Be the queen or don’t. Bring peace to Hyrule or don’t. Unite all people again, Zoras, Hylians, you name it. Or don’t. You can choose.”

She didn’t dare move as she asked, “What about you? Will you stay in Hyrule? Will you go?”

“I don’t know yet, to be honest.”

“What if I want to go with you?”

Silence. She looked up. Their eyes met. She wasn’t sure what she had expected. Her intuition had left her. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking. But the thought was thrilling. Leaving everything behind, every tiny bit of her past. Losing herself in blue eyes over and over again. They had always looked at her with caution. Maybe a little bit of interest. She couldn’t deny that she felt it, too. They were worlds apart. If she could close the distance, maybe everything would be all right again. Maybe then.

“Is that really what you want?” he asked.

“You wouldn’t want me to?”

He breathed in and out. Opened his mouth a little bit. She couldn’t look away. Something in her chest tightened painfully. Before she could think about it, she leaned forward, her lips pressing against his. She couldn’t say if she liked it. She couldn’t say if her heart jumped because she liked the way he kissed back or because she wanted to run away. But when he was about to pull away, she entangled her fingers in his hair and held him in place to kiss him another time.

Nothing was all right again.

She backed away. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes shone in surprise. It couldn’t have been that unexpected. Maybe he thought more of her than she could have known. Maybe the distance bothered him in the same way as her.

“You belong here,” he said, his voice steady despite his still colored cheeks. “You belong with your kingdom. That’s what I think.”

She couldn’t smile. She looked at the river. She wondered how it hadn’t changed while everything around it had become so much different. She looked at her right hand, nothing left of the power she had once wielded.

Slowly she stood up, dragging the cloak from her shoulders and handing it back to him. “If you ever need me,” she said, “you know where to find me.” She didn’t wait for him to answer before she left.

 

Princess Zelda I was a pretty woman. Hundreds of years sleeping hadn’t done anything to conceal her beauty. Even worse was the fact that whenever she looked at Zelda I, it felt like looking into a mirror. A mirror which depicted her with rosier cheeks, with a healthier smile, with a kind of optimism she had never known in all her life. With thankfulness for a life worth living. Zelda I was lovely, her initial helplessness nothing but charming, the love people had for her seemingly endless. It was agonizing.

All of it was agonizing.

She had packed the most important things. Food, enough rupees, a bow she had yet to get used to. She left the horrible pink dress behind. Frills and pretty things didn’t suit her anymore. Maybe they never had.

She wasn’t even surprised to find Link at the place she liked to visit near the river. A small rock, two trees next to it, their leaves rustling in the wind. It was quiet. Nobody came here because nobody saw a reason to do so. Now Link was as well-known in Hyrule as she was. It seemed almost surreal to her. The strange traveler who had saved Hyrule, who had awoken an ever-sleeping princess from her slumber, who deserved all the praise and love he got. Entirely surreal.

“Hello, courageous traveler,” she greeted him.

He turned around to look at her. When he wanted to offer the rock for her to sit on, she shook her head and sat down next to him. In this way, he could look down on her. Maybe that was fitting. She didn’t care anymore, not at all.

“Link is fine,” he said.

She chuckled. “What do they call you? Wielder of the Triforce?”

“Link, mostly.”

She wrapped her arms around her knees. It was a bit absurd. She had lost her piece of the Triforce, he had gained it. She had lost her piece of the Triforce, and a girl, looking just like her, had received it instead. It was cruel. Feeling his eyes on her, she sighed lightly.

“I feel like a puppet.”

“How so?”

“Because,” she hesitated, longer, longer, the river didn’t stop flowing, even as the evening sun began to set, “it was always the goddesses’ plan. The Triforce of Wisdom belongs to Zelda I, not me. But she wouldn’t have been able to hide it from Ganon in her state. So, when Ganon was no threat anymore – the goddesses didn’t give me the Triforce back. They gave it to her instead. I was only … I was a convenient placeholder.”

He didn’t say anything. She whished he did. Over the years, he had become the wise one. With those calm eyes and those carefully uttered words. And she? She was left. A queen who could barely hold her kingdom together. Zelda I had been asleep for hundreds of years, but it seemed like the throne was made for her. There were no dark thoughts haunting her mind. There were no nightmares keeping her awake every time she tried to fall asleep. There were no memories of weeks, months, sitting alone among cold walls. No one to talk to. No one to cry to. Alive, but barely so.

A warm hand graced her shoulder. She shivered violently. It was a gentle touch, something she hadn’t felt in such a long time. She hid her face on her knees.

“You’ve already made your choice, haven’t you?” he asked.

She looked up to him. Into eyes that shone with kindness. Once she had been afraid of it. Kindness could be elusive. She knew too well. But there was no reason to hold back anymore. She grasped his hand still resting on her shoulder, pulled it towards her cheek. She leaned into the touch. She wanted to remain there forever, believing that she had been rescued, once and for all, that the journey was over, that all was well and she was safe and she could become the queen she was supposed to be.

But life was about choices, and she opened her eyes to meet the expression on his face. Something like longing. Not exactly for her, that much she knew. A longing she also felt. A longing for freedom, maybe. A longing to be themselves and no one else.

She understood. She understood the haunting memories. She understood the need to flee, she finally did. So she smiled. “Will you take me with you?”

He returned her smile.


End file.
